KUCHING, May 5 — Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan today expressed his confidence that Sarawak can meet its target of 10,000 megawatts (MW) of energy by the year 2030.
He said the state has the resources to reach the target, either through hydropower, biomass, gas combined cycle power, or solar plants.
“How fast we can increase the capacity, I think, depends on our planning on the power development,” he told reporters at his Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at the Borneo Convention Centre here.
He said SEB currently has an installed capacity of 5,625MW.
Awang Tengah, who is also the state minister of international trade, industry and investment, said the state government is giving opportunities to the private sector to work together with state-owned power supplier Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) to develop the energy sector.
On the Sejingkat power plant, he said it will gradually transition from coal to biomass.
“How fast the transition will take place depends on the availability of raw materials,” he said, adding that there must be sufficient raw materials for the transition.
He said Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg has already directed SEB to transit to biomass for the Sejingkat power plant.
Sarawak’s main sources of hydro-power come from the dams of Bakun (1,400MW), Murum (944MW) and Batang Ai (108MW).
The Baleh Dam is still under construction and is designed to produce 1,285MW.
The construction works on the Baleh Dam started in September 2018 with commissioning scheduled by 2027.
